Manufacturing

Corona Capital: Vaccine yields, Halliburton, Glovo

19 Oct 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Corporate bond investors are nearly as worried about a vaccine crimping the market as they are about inflation; oil services firms get three times unlucky; Delivery Hero acts like one despite investor skepticism.

Boeing has got a bigger than MAX problem

16 Oct 2020

Europe’s aviation regulator said the troubled 737 is safe to fly, sending the $92 bln aircraft producer’s shares up 5%. Even when sales return, ongoing reductions of flight schedules due to Covid-19 will make Boeing’s woes linger. There’s a chance they become permanent.

Corona Capital: Black Friday, JPMorgan’s new tower

14 Oct 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Walmart’s Black Friday rejig makes for a curious experiment; JPMorgan goes all-in on New York real estate.

Face mask boom has unhealthy side effects

5 Oct 2020

Companies from Chinese carmaker BYD to retailer Gap have cashed in on demand for masks. Entrepreneurs and crooks have also piled in, leading to quality problems and fraud. As panic-buying winds down, dealing with excess capacity and used-mask trash could be a headache.

Rolls-Royce repair job has 18-month warranty

29 Sep 2020

The UK jet engine maker wants to raise 2.5 bln pounds from existing and new investors, including sovereign funds. That should keep it aloft even if the airlines that use its kit have a bad 2021. Beyond that, a slow recovery could mean more financial warning lights.

Corona Capital: U.S. sports’ virus-bubble success

29 Sep 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Professional hockey and basketball associations scored victories keeping infection rates low or at zero in spectator-free games. And less traveling and more sleep helped players up their game. Wall Street take note.

Rolls-Royce self-harms by selling family silver

27 Aug 2020

The British jet-engine maker wants to offload its Spanish turbine-blade unit to patch up its Covid-hit balance sheet. Creditors will be as gleeful as shareholders are glum. If Rolls survives the crisis – and that’s an increasingly big if – it will be with a permanent limp.

German union will get half its four-day-week wish

26 Aug 2020

IG Metall wants to save jobs by cutting workers’ hours, but without proportional pay cuts. Shorter workweeks make sense for employers, staff and the economy. The per-hour wage hike only suits employees. Dire growth prospects give bosses the upper hand in negotiations.

Knorr-Bremse makes case for driverless company

13 Aug 2020

The German brakes maker has lost its second CEO in less than two years. The shadow of billionaire majority shareholder Heinz Hermann Thiele looms too large. But Knorr-Bremse’s market dominance and lack of major rivals mean there’s little urgent need to find a replacement.

Corona Capital: Amazon, Car perks, College sports

29 Jun 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Companies are trying to bolster pocketbooks. Amazon makes extra payments to employees while car companies are offering major discounts. Plus: Under Armour ditches its UCLA deal.

Winnebago’s spring surge may run out of gas

24 Jun 2020

The recreational-vehicle maker’s stock price has more than tripled from March lows as social distancing pushes stir-crazy Americans outdoors. But the company’s valuation is stuffed with expectations of hitting Mount Rainier-type heights. Investors might want to put on the brakes.

Financial myopia could be healed by virus

21 May 2020

Apple, Airbus and Asahi are among many companies withdrawing forecasts during the pandemic. It’s a good time to reconsider campaigns by JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon and others to end quarterly profit guidance. Covid-19 should help refocus attention on the longer-term.

Ford, GM can ride out lockdown till September

27 Mar 2020

The two U.S. automakers are bringing in almost no revenue with factories and sales on hiatus. And they have huge fixed costs. But they’re awash with cash and don’t need to buy parts. Throw in some austerity, and each has around six months before no or slow sales threaten a crash.

Rolls-Royce takeoff requires disbelief suspension

28 Feb 2020

The engineer made a $1 bln operating loss after issues in its aerospace arm. Shares rose after CEO Warren East said charges related to the Trent 1000 engine were now mostly over. To hit a $1.3 bln free cash flow target, investors used to bruising one-offs must take his word.

Thyssenkrupp’s big lift deal puts time over price

17 Feb 2020

The German group has narrowed the field of bidders for its elevator division to two private equity consortia. Trade buyer Kone’s 17 bln euro premium offer is out. Thyssenkrupp insists an IPO remains an option, but its need for a clean, quick deal implies otherwise.

Home cleanup lets Philips focus on health push

28 Jan 2020

The 40 bln euro Dutch group is offloading its vacuum and coffee maker arm which brings in 12% of revenue. Detangling the business is fiddly but lets CEO Frans van Houten focus on its health units. Catching up with rivals like Siemens Healthineers requires more reliable results.

Trump’s trade war chases its own tail

16 Jan 2020

The U.S. president is hailing his agreement with China as a boost to farmers and manufacturing workers. It is, but only because they were the losers from trade conflict. Obama showed that following the rules doesn’t work; Trump has only shown that ripping them up doesn’t either.

Siemens will sand down its valuation discount

7 Nov 2019

The German industrial group had a good fourth quarter. Shares are valued at 15 times forward earnings, compared with 19 times for peer ABB. If Chief Executive Joe Kaeser can achieve his relatively modest 2020 earnings ambitions, he can close that gap with his European rival.

Investors are too lighthearted about sober October

3 Oct 2019

The U.S. services sector is weakening while manufacturing is contracting, just as a new front opens in President Donald Trump’s trade war and his potential impeachment heats up. Some of this can be soothed by the Fed, but not all – and fiscal backup may prove hard to come by.

Japan-Korea spat returns chip price error message

25 Jul 2019

Earnings at semiconductor giant SK Hynix plunged 88%, weighed down by a worldwide glut. Yet shares rose on hopes that Tokyo's export curbs to South Korea will depress supply and lift prices. The risks of weaker demand and supply chain ruptures suggest the rally looks premature.